a700hitter

Having a legitimate power threat behind Ortiz will help run production.

Ben is not one to tip his hand, and this team had so many needs that it is hard to guess at what direction he might take. The Castillo move didn't seem like an obvious move, but I guess that our OF is pretty much see for 2015. What's up next on Ben' s agenda? I have no clue.

Did I say in my post that we shouldn't have signed him? No, I don't think I have said that in any of my posts. I just made an observation that we seem to have a lot of very small players.

He's a poster child for the excellent reputation of the AZ State program. If he had put up those numbers at a lesser college, he would not have been drafted until a much later round. College numbers are not very reliable indicators. Also, with regard to your Bill James reference in your post, you are talking out of your ass --- as usual.

They will be lucky if they reach 70 wins this season. If they win 70 games next season to make it 3 of 4 years at 70 wins, they will take a big hit to their profits. Edit: Even the Mets have not been that bad over the last 4 years, and they are dumping thousands of tickets onto stub hub at steep discounts. At least they are sucking at a bargain basement payroll.

The Sox have lost 8 of 10 on this home stand. The team is in free-fall.

This guy is on the small side. We continue to acquire guys that make us look more like a gymnastic team than a baseball team.

In the Press Conference, Ben said that he is happy with the "talent that is here". Goodness, is that denial or delusion?

They haven't left themselves any choice. Filling these spots internally would guarantee a wire to wire last place team.

On the radio yesterday, the announcers said that Kelly had an injury issue last night. Has there been any report on that?

I think that he will not be getting a chance to be our CF anytime soon.

My recollection is that Betts never played SS in the organization.

Hopefully Ortiz is not injured by that HBP. He is having a nice season, and he is the only reason to keep watching this season.

I really don't know what to make of this move. We need pitching help like crazy, but they spend $72 million for an unknown quantity outfielder. What does this mean for Betts? I thought he would get a shot next year. Where does this leave him next season with Craig, Cespedes, and Castillo? I am assuming that Bradley is out and has blown his shot. I'd think that Middlebrooks has also blown his shot, but Betts still has to compete with Holt for 3B. Also, is XB going to be our SS going forward or will he be playing 3rd. It is really difficult at this juncture to project how the 2015 team will take shape.

7 run rule in effect today.

Workman is a bullpen guy in my view -- middle inning guy. We really have a lot of work ahead building a starting rotation. Going forward were are lucky if we can find 3 starters from among Rubby, Kelly, Buchholz and Ranaudo. Maybe 3.

Cespedes has very good speed. He has some tools.

The discussion was about scouting, not judging performance after a player has been a professional. You can't scout based on stats. High School stats mean nothing. For the most part, college stats mean nothing. Scouts evaluate tools. They judge arm, speed, and power first, because the belief is that everything else can be learned through coaching. Stats don't mean a thing until the minor leagues and even those don't have a complete correlation to success or failure, and by the time a player is compiling meaningful stats, he has already been drafted. Drive and desire are very hard to evaluate, because you need to invest a lot of time observing the player, and scouts cant devote so much time to individual players. It is what makes talent evaluation so imprecise. As for your example of Manny Ramirez not having heart, you are mistaking hustle for drive and desire. While Manny may have been a jerk who didn't want to be bothered running hard etc., his desire to be a great hitter was unmatched. He never missed his batting practice, and I can tell you that I witnessed him several times take live bp in the outfield cages at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers after taking his reps on the field. He would hit continuously for another 30 minutes stopping only to change pitchers and restock baseballs. It was my favorite part of spring training watching him take his private bp. It was pretty awesome to see. The guy was phenomenal to watch. His swing was so fluid and looked so easy, but up close you could see the power and speed and the last instant adjustments to pitch location. Manny loved to hit and his passion drove him to excel. He took far more private bp than the other players. Also, he played in most spring training games (almost every home game) and he never came out until he got his 3 or 4 ABs.

Everything about this season is the polar opposite of last year.

Unless he hits like Bradley.

Rubby has been a bright spot. Webster still has a lot of work to prove that he can have the consistent command needed to be in the majors. Kelly wasn't our farmhand. The biggest disappointment has been XB and Bradley are two most highly valued prospects. There is no sugar coating their crashing to the earth.

This has me wondering about a couple of things. How close is he to being ready to play and the suspension has me wondering if he is a bad apple.

Very surpirsing.

I don't think that he can be viewed as the incumbent CFer in the off season. He will have to win the job back. I would expect someone else to be installed as the starting CFer in 2015 and Bradley would have to catch a break and capitalize on it to win back the job.

Agreed. Unless this guy is the real deal, look to the major league talent.